Hello! Welcome to Week 18!
I mentioned last week that we were putting on the plastic on our hoophouses. Hoophouse 1 is complete! The carrots have germinated and the spinach has it's first true leaves. Hoophouse 2 should be completed by the end of the week. Just in time to plant in our bok choy, scallions, kohlrabi, more spinach and carrots.
Below is a picture of all the farm hands available to hold the plastic in place as we secure it on.
Here goes the second layer of plastic. As it's being rolled off on this end people on the other side are pulling onto the rope that is attached to the plastic. Within an hour the plastic is secured and the house is ready!
Meanwhile in the greenhouse I have already started to hang flowers and start saving their seeds. As I was taking these pictures I noticed a few too many birds coming in and out of the sides of the greenhouse and going right to the sunflower seeds. Tomorrow I'll be rolling down these sides so that we could have more seeds to put in our mix for our acres of wildflowers for next year.
Here I am drying out flamingo feather flower. You can see the small dark seeds among the dried petals.
After the petals have dried I then sift to separate the seeds. The seeds are then stored in a brown bag in a secure cabinet where they will be waiting until next Spring.
Hanging in the greenhouse are a variety of sunflowers, celosia, ornamental grasses, sorghum, verbena and butterfly weed.
Harvested just for you........
Lettuce Heads
Arugula
Hakurei Sweet Salad Turnips
French Breakfast or Easter Egg Radishes
Baby Spinach
Celeriac
Bulk Golden Beets
Yellow Storage Onions
Asian Pears*
Extended Fruit Share: (last week for on farm members!)
Grimmes Golden Apple
Mutsu Apple
Ida Red Apple
Honeycrisp or Red Cortand or Empire
*Asian Pears are grown by Gail Cox who has a small orchard in Pleasant Prairie. They do not spray their fruit. The fruit is round in shape and has a crisp texture and sweet juicy flavor. Enjoy!
Romaine Lettuce Head!
Romaine and Red Leaf Head Lettuce growing under fabric.
Hakurei Sweet Salad Turnips, no need to peel just slice and enjoy them raw.
A healthy bounty of Arugula!
The rounder radishes on the left are the Easter Egg Radish and the longer red with white tips are French Breakfast Radish.
Ideas for the cook in the kitchen............
Celeriac! A great root vegetable and is a member of the celery family. It can be used in any recipe that calls for celery and is especially good in soups and stews and partners great with potato.
Enjoy the bounty of the farm!
Your farmers,
Tania and Chris Cubberly
